


Hollywood and the English teacher

by Luthwyn



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: Actor Dan Howell, Established Relationship, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-05
Updated: 2018-03-05
Packaged: 2019-03-27 09:34:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,015
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13878123
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Luthwyn/pseuds/Luthwyn
Summary: Phil is an English teacher who's husband just happens to be a very famous actor who decides to visit the school he works at for a week.





	1. Sunday

**Author's Note:**

> This is just a little au that has been rolling around in my head for a while, thanks for reading!

Dan Howell was not the typical twenty-five-year-old male, most twenty-five-year-old males aren't famous actors with millions of crazy fan girls hanging of their every word. It is also fair to note that most twenty-five-year-old actors with millions of crazy fan girls hanging off their every word do not have a secret husband who teaches GCSE English to a bunch of these crazy fan girls hanging of their husbands every word. That is one hell of a mouthful. It's true that Dan and Phil were an odd couple.  Sassy and sarcastic Dan and sweet and smart Phil and yet they fit together perfectly, and always had. Dan would always remember the first day they met, it was both the worst and best day of his life.  
 He was still only an aspiring actor back then, barely having performed in a few plays and unknown. He'd been on his way for an audition for a small part in a TV show which he hoped would be his big break, something he really needed given his current financial situation. His parents had cut him off after finding out he was gay and he had quit his minimum wage job to pursue his dreams of fame and fortune. Unfortunately, his fear and self-doubts got a hold of him and long story short he ended up crying on a park bench, fifteen minutes late and several miles away from where he needed to be, he'd blew it. He sat there pouring his heart out to an empty field, ready to give up on everything really.  
 Suddenly his knight in shining armour arrived in the shape of a cute, bright eyed university student by the name of Phil. He managed to finally calm down with the help of the older boy and when Phil had managed to coax a few words out of him he had offered to take Dan to the audition. Dan accepted hesitantly and despite being half an hour late and face swollen with tears, he got the part. Apparently they liked his raw emotion, Dan had neglected to tell them it wasn't intentional. Three months later he was spotted by a talent agent who decided he was just right for a major role in an upcoming film. Six years, eleven months and twenty five days later he had worked on over thirty major projects, was a household name and had been married for just under a year.    
 After Dan had realised that Phil had had to miss one of his lectures in order to drive Dan to the studio had felt incredibly guilty and it was only natural that he had to ask his saviour out to dinner. He didn't really remember much after that except that he woke up in Phil's bed the next morning feeling quite pleased with himself. Dan soon found out that Phil was in his first year of an English language degree and was hoping to go to train as an English secondary school teacher. It took five years to finally get both qualifications and a job and it was in that year that he and Dan got married. Dan knew he was a little young for getting married but honestly he couldn't see himself with anyone else. He constantly had fan girls, fan boys and even some other celebrities after him but Phil had known and loved him way before the acting and riches he was so known for. Phil had been there for him when Dan still struggled to get jobs and had worked his ass of at both work and university to help Dan get to the point where he could be self-sufficient. He wasted hours upon hours  taking Dan here there and everywhere in order to get him to auditions and even spent an entire year saving up to buy Dan a car so he could go himself. The budget was rather small and all he could afford was an old faded ford but it was enough to reduce Dan to tears when Phil gave it to him on his birthday. Dan still had it actually. It was hidden away at the back of his garage with all of the fancy show cars he had and whilst it looked quite out of place there was far too much sentimental value attached to it for him to get rid of it.  
 For an incredibly wealthy film star and his husband Dan and Phil had quite a modest house. They'd bought it when Phil got his first teaching job in the school around the corner and at the time Dan wasn't too sure that his career was going to last so he needed somewhere with quite low running costs and the house had been nice. After he hit another big role they were going to move but Dan decided that it would be better for Phil to live near his work since he went there almost every day whilst Dan often stayed away for long periods of time on shoots and there was no point in leaving  house they were both happy with. It was littered with mementoes, merch, photos, things that made it feel like home and neither of them would change it for the world. Plus for someone with such a modest income and no apparent spouse it would look strange for Phil to own a mansion.  
 Socially neither of the two men belonged to particularly large friendship groups and most of their relationships were professional only and private lives didn't come into it. This was true mostly for Dan who had very little contact with his parents and childhood friends but not so much for Phil who had a lot of people from university and work who he still kept in contact with (although very few of them actually knew about Dan) not to mention his family who had always been incredibly supportive and proud of both their son and son in law. Their wedding had been a small but sweet affair with Phil's and a very begrudging Dan's family, a few friends and Maxie the corgi who had been Dan's wedding present to Phil.  
 They had decided that they would reveal their relationship eventually, that sort of thing wasn't something you could hide easily and the media often had trouble keeping their noses out of other people's business, especially if one of said people is famous, but not for as long as they could. It would be the end of Phil's teaching career and whilst he had said many times that he would like to be an author teaching was the thing he wanted to do and Dan didn't want to take that away from him. The odd rumours that started accumulating whenever he was seen with other celebs often made him laugh but still got under his skin a little and he wasn't immune to hurtful comments. Of course when it did get too much he had Phil to take care of him but it still wasn't pretty.  
 Phil was one of those people who always cared about others more than himself and whilst like Dan he wasn't immune to comments and scrutiny which sometimes did hurt him, he tended not to care what others thought of him. He was so gentile and mild-mannered, although he had a rather dark sense of humour, that even just his company tended to calm Dan down and if he was really stressed Phil knew just the way to help him relax.  
 Phil also had quite the natural way with children, hence his decision to become a teacher. He couldn't wait to have kids of his own and after they got married both Dan and Phil had decided to start the adoption process. It had taken up the better part of the last year, going to meetings, on courses, not to mention the seven different times their house had been inspected. Thankfully that was all over now and all they had to do was wait for the conclusion of the council, which was the hardest thing of all. About a month ago they had had their main interview. It had been incredibly nerve wracking for the both of them and they were both far too worked up afterwards to tell if it had gone well or not. Usually it doesn't take that long for the panel to make a decision but then again given Dan's fame and the secrecy regarding their relationship they were a pretty odd case. Dan had been pretty upset when he realised his filming timetable coincided so closely with the meeting meaning he probably wouldn't be at home when the news came through telling them if they could adopt it not. If the answer was yes then he wanted to be able to celebrate with his husband and if it was no then they would both need each other's comfort. To be honest though as long as the answer was yes then he would be overjoyed, either at home or away. It also meant he missed their first wedding anniversary which Phil was particularly unhappy about but they were going to celebrate when Dan got back and they could have their own little party over skype.  
 Unable to avoid a meeting he was scheduled to attend in America with the cast and crew of his latest project he had had to leave two weeks after the interview and he had had a hard time saying goodbye to Phil. Of course they would skype and call each other all the time, it was nothing compared to being with someone in person. After a lengthy farewell he finally picked up his bags and jumped on a plane to Hollywood. The latest film he was staring in was a small venture by the name of "alter-ego". It was nowhere near as large as some of his previous endeavours but with a decent script and world renowned director Pj Liguori behind the project it had a lot going for it. The plot revolved around a small English school and its troubles financially and with struggling students. It was nothing that hadn't been done before but what had caught Dan's eye was its complex themes revolving around the pressure put on both students and teachers within the school system as well as mental health, both things that he was all too familiar with. Despite this however it still remained quite light hearted and uplifting.   
 The cast was minimal in order to add a personal sort of feeling to the movie. It helped keep the story feeling intimate and realistic. As a result there were only around twenty speaking characters and only fifty or so extras. The main cast consisted of four main teachers and thirteen students along with the odd parent and an offstead inspector. The teachers were being played by Hazel Hayes, Carrie Hope Fletcher, Louise Pentland and himself and the students by students themselves who were all aspiring actors, just like Dan had been all those years ago. None of them were well known but Pj had been blown away by their auditions and had been thrilled to take them on as part of his project. There were also a few other characters, the offstead inspector being played by Lilly Singh and Jack Howard playing a parent but they weren't part of the main cast so weren't required to attend the meeting. The main portion of the meet up had been discussing filming schedules and other boring technical stuff but what Pj revealed last left him with an evil grin. Since most of them had left school quite some years ago he wanted them to be able to visit a school in order to study the student's relationship with teachers and how the teachers acted. Pj wanted a good amount of realism in his work and he really wanted for Hazel, Carrie, Louise and Dan to have this opportunity. The only problem was that he couldn't find a school willing to be interrupted for a week by the visiting of four famous film stars, luckily Dan knew just the place. Pj had been rather confused by Dan's enthusiasm but decided to contact the school anyway. Dan knew from Phil that the school he worked at was pretty lax and they had done a great number of things that the department of education was not to know about so he was quite sure they would agree. His exact words to Pj had been that the headmistress was 'sound' which had earned the most bewildered look of 'why the fuck would you know that' off the director but he didn't question it and it was proved right when she agreed almost immediately. They were going in the following week which was a little awkward since they had literally all just flown in from the uk but the sooner they did it the sooner they could start filming.  
 Dan was incredibly jittery on the flight back. He was bouncing up and down in his seat, knees occasional connecting quite firmly with the seat in front of him and he could see Hazel becoming more and more frustrated but couldn't find it in himself to care. He had decided not to tell Phil about any of the arrangements since he wanted it to be a surprise. His husband wouldn't be expecting him home for another two months, he was going to be so mad.

"Why are you so excited, I thought you hated school?" Louise said in an irritated whisper, placing her hand on Dan's knee to stop his tapping, "Won't this bring back a whole load of unhappy memories?" Dan had had a hard time at school sure but he was an adult now, that wouldn't affect him anymore, would it? He responded to Louise with an enormous grin spreading across his face.

"Well you know it was me that persuaded Pj to look at this school," He said happily, Louise nodded but still looked confused, "Well I might have picked this particular school for a reason." Louise was one of the few that knew about Phil, sort of. She knew Dan was dating someone but she didn't know they were married and she didn't know who Phil was.

The only thing she knew him as was 'Dan's girlfriend', only because Dan had never bothered to correct her misused pronoun. He thought that since they had known each other for years she would have figured out that he wasn't one hundred percent straight but maybe all of those fake kisses with actresses glossed that over, even if he did complain a hell of a lot beforehand. It wasn't his fault, he just didn't like kissing people he barely knew even if it was fake. It was quite funny to see how jealous Phil got when he watched the film though. Anyway that didn't matter now but Louise's confusion did.

"Oh my god, Dan are you dating a student." She gasped loudly, exiting a few strange looks from the people sitting around them. If Dan had been drinking something he would have spat it out but he instead dropped his phone in shock and then had to scramble around under the seat to get it back.

"I'm twenty five Louise, of course I'm not dating a student!" He hushed and Louise looked even more confused,

"Why are you so happy about going then?"

Dan sighed and brought his hand to his forehead,

"I'm dating one of the teachers." he said in a matter of fact voice. Louise let out a happy squeal.

"Oh that is cute, what subject does she teach?" She said in a hushed voice,

"I not going to tell you," Dan said with a grin. He hated what he was going to do and it was probably a little negligent of the rules he had Phil had made up to maintain their privacy but damn it would be fun, "You are going to guess who they are,"

Louise gave him a catlike grin that looked a little scary.

"Can I tell the others as well then?" she said with a smirk, Dan considered it for a second but decided that there was nobody on the team that didn't trust and they would all keep it a secret.

"All right but they are not to tell anybody else under any circumstances, have you got that?" Louise nodded furiously.

"I'll tell them when we get to the hotel back in England, there are too many people around here." She whispered, eyeing up some of the other passengers suspiciously. Dan nodded pulled out his phone which miraculously remained intact after he had dropped it. He had a missed call from Phil and wondered for a moment whether he should return it. He decided against it though. It would be quite obvious that he was on a plane and he wanted his return to be a complete surprise.

It was a Sunday and he would have been planning for his lessons for the following day anyway, Dan didn't want to disturb him. He'd left for the flight on Thursday so it had been three nights since they'd last spoken since Dan had been too busy to call although they had texted. He couldn't wait to hear his voice, in person as well. He might be used to staying away from home a lot but that didn't mean he didn't miss Phil an awful lot. If their adoption application passed then he knew for certain he wouldn't be staying away from home any more. He wouldn't leave Phil alone with a child, it wouldn't be faire considering he worked full time. He would only take short shoots which would limit his number of options but allow more timed to spend with his family.

He was unable to keep himself still for the next few hours and cursed how long a trans-Atlantic flight took. It was about ten at night when they landed and after they had collected their bags Dan decided to get the train home. He had a rail pass and although there was the chance he could get recognise in this part of the country it was mainly just old people and he'd missed rush hour. Everyone else was getting a taxi to their hotel but Dan had decided that it would be easier that he just stayed at home and travelled to the school from there. His cast mates bid him farewell and he went on his way. Unfortunately due to the almost constant rail strikes the train was late by about an hour and it took another two to get back. By the time he finally got to the front door of home it was two in the morning.

Dan unlocked to door and opened it as slowly and as quietly as he could. He was surprised to find the light on in the living room, especially as it was a work night and Phil never went to bed after midnight when he was working the next day. He crept through the hall and popped his head around the door. He let out a little internal 'aww' when he saw Phil curled up fast asleep on the sofa with Maxie nestled in his arms. There was a pile of opened books on the coffee table in front of him and Dan realised he must have fallen asleep while marking. Maxie lifted his head and wagged his tail lazily before slumping back down, he was a lazy thing.

Dan walked over to Phil but frowned when he realised the position he was in. He couldn't get to sleep here, he'd wake up all sore in the morning. He didn't want to wake him up really but he didn't have a choice.

"Phil, Phil wake up." He said softly, gently shaking him when he only groaned in response. Phil opened his eyes groggily, confusion plastered over his face,

"Dan? Dan!" He said happily, flinging his arms around the other man, "You aren't supposed to be back for another two months!" Dan smiled and returned the hug eagerly,

"I know but we got to come back to do some research, hey I might even be able to stay for out anniversary."

Phil smiled happily,

"Yeah that would be nice," he said pulling Dan down on top of him. Dan let out an 'oomph' as he landed on his husband but that soon dissolved into laughter. They lay there for a bit in silence but Dan could see Phil was starting to drift off again.

"You need to get to bed old man."

Phil let out a groan and he pushed Dan off him so he could sit up.

"One, I'm only twenty- eight and two, I have marking to do." He said with a yawn. Dan looked over to the pile of books that only7 looked about half done and then back to Phil who looked quite frankly exhausted.

"Phil it's two in the morning and you need to teach tomorrow. I think your students would prefer if you didn't mark their essays if the outcome is you falling asleep at your desk." Dan said attempting to steer Phil towards the door.

"But Dan I promised." He whined. Dan smiled and grabbed him by the shoulders.

"Phil I'm sure your students won't even notice, there is going to be a lot going on tomorrow." Phil looked confused but was too tired to question what Dan meant by that.

"Alright I'll go," he said extending a hand, "But you have to come with me." Dan laughed and took his husbands grip in his and led him up the stairs. They were both asleep almost as soon as their heads hit the pillow but Dan stayed up just a little longer so that he could wrap his arms around Phil.

"Night Philly, tomorrow is going to be interesting," he whispered with a grin.  
  



	2. Monday

Dan woke the next morning to Phil gently shaking him. He was already dressed in his smart teaching uniform as he called it and had one of his satchel bags slung over his shoulder. He wasn't wearing his glasses which annoyed Dan a little since he looked so good in them, but he was sure he could persuade him to wear them tomorrow.

"Morning sleepy head," Phil said fondly, reaching down to ruffle Dan's hair. Dan groaned and rolled over in an attempt to escape the bright sunlight that was filtering in through the curtains. Dan laughed and bent down to give him a peck on the cheek.

"Have a nice day, get all that research stuff done. I'll try and get home early. Love you."

Dan smiled knowing it wouldn't really be necessary for him to get home early but appreciated the fact that he was going to try.

"Love you to, I'm sure you are going to have a great day at work." He replied maybe a little too enthusiastically. Phil furrowed his eyebrows, clearly confused as to why Dan was being so happy so early in the morning but shrugged and headed out.

"Don't forget to feed and walk Maxie." He called over his shoulder earning a little groan from Dan. It wasn't as if he didn't like walking Maxie, it's just he was tired and while he may have been incredibly exited to surprise Phil he would rather just be getting ready. Speaking of the dog he was currently sprawled out across Dan's torso and whilst he may be small he was also very heavy. Maybe he did need walking a bit more often.

The sound of the door shutting echoed through the house quickly followed by the lock clicking in the door. Dan smiled and ushered the corgi off him before jumping out of ben. He teetered on the spot for a second whilst his body got used to his sudden movements. He'd sort of forgotten he'd spent the better part of yesterday hunched up in a tiny aeroplane seat.

The time read seven thirty and although he wasn't due in until nine he had a lot of stuff to do. Louise was picking him up at eight since Phil had taken the car although he would catch a ride with him tomorrow. Maxie followed him rather drearily, clearly not used to waking up this early when damn was around. As he wandered into the kitchen, on a mission for some breakfast he realised that the books Phil had been marking were still strewn across the coffee table. He must have forgotten to pick them up this morning. There would be no harm in taking them in for him, right? He piled the half-marked books together and shoved them in a backpack that had been cast haphazardly onto the sofa.

Maxie had started to bark at his feet, so he went back into the kitchen and filled his bowl. Maxie was still a puppy really, he was just over a year old now although both Dan and Phil had agreed they would celebrate his birthday on their wedding anniversary since that was when they had got him. That was on Saturday. Dan opened the back door to let him out into the garden until he finished getting ready and then he would take him out for a quick walk.

"Go on boy," he said cheerfully as Maxie galloped around on his adorable stubby little legs. Maybe he needed a friend, what if he got lonely when he was at home. Dan sighed and shook his head. That was something to think about at another time. He wolfed down his breakfast and went to get dressed. Dan had a good collection of clothes, most of which were either black or quite horrendous looking, but a good collection none the less. He decided to go with a black and white checked shirt and some black skinny jeans. He checked his phone quickly and realised he only had half an hour to walk the dog. He whistled for the corgi and grabbed his lead which was hanging on its hook by the door. Maxie was at his feet instantly, tail wagging furiously. Dan clipped his leach onto his collar and allowed himself to be pulled out of the door. It was an overcast day but while usually this would have put a dampener in Dan's mood nothing could quench his excitement.

It was sort of petty, showing up at his husbands work but he had heard so much about the school and staff and he was desperate to meet them. Phil got to watch Dan doing his job, why could he look at Phil's. They always went to the cinema together when a film Dan was staring in came out. It may seem a little bigoted but Phil never got to go to the premiere due to the couples desire to keep it on the down low if it were and he didn't want to go on his own. Dan didn't mind of course. He loved seeing Phil happy and he always let Dan know how proud he was of him. Plus they could call it one of their few date nights since nobody would be expecting Dan Howell (although it was really Dan Howell-Lester) to go and see his own movie.

Once they had gone around the blocked Dan pulled Maxie back towards the house to his dismay and gave him a bone to keep him occupied while he was out. A car pulled up outside the house and Dan recognised it to be Louise's white BMW. He did actually own his own cars but they were kept in a garage complex a few miles away since they didn't have the drive space to keep them in front of the house. Well that and the fact that it would look a little suspicious if an English teacher on an English teachers salary, which to be fair is not a lot to have a plethora of expensive sports cars on his drive. Whenever he needed to use one of his own cars he would just get Phil to drive him but that was effort.

He grabbed the backpack full of Phil's books and swung it over his shoulder, wincing when it dawned on him how heavy they were. How on earth was Phil carrying all of these around all the time, he must be secretly hench.

"Hey Lou." he greeted cheerfully, hopping into her car and dumping the books in the back seat. Louise followed it with a confused look.

"Why are you so cheerful today Dan. You hate mornings. Also this is your house? I thought it would have been bigger." She said jokingly. Dan frowned.

"I have a very nice house thank you." He said punching her lightly on the shoulder, "and I think you know why I'm so happy."

Louise rolled her eyes and returned the friendly punch,

"Alright Danny boy, I know we're going to meet your wife or whatever but are seriously this excited about this game?"

Dan nodded furiously a big grin on his face. Louise smiled and shook her head.

"We better get going then."

By the time they pulled up at the school moat of the students had already hurried to class. Dan spotted a few students poking their head out of the window from the science block but he wasn't quite sure if they were looking at him and Louise of just being moronic. From what he'd heard from Phil there were a good few idiots here. Hazel and Carrie had just arrived and were stood outside their respective lift. They were in downplayed clothes, clearly aiming to look normal, Dan imagined that they would go no more than two hours without getting recognized. Neither of the two actresses were as well-known as Dan and unfortunately the actor's main audience appeared to be around high school age.

Carrie gave him a friendly shoulder bump and sly grin as they entered into the front office. Dan groaned slightly as the heavy backpack moved casing some poor student's workbook to dig into his back but forced a smile all the same. The receptionist looked quite flustered, handing over their visitor passes before awkwardly asking Louise for an autograph. She of course agreed and happily signed the notebook that was thrust her way. The headmistress the emerged from the main school hall although she looked far more relaxed.

"Good morning, I hope you have had a nice trip." She said in a polite but stern voice. She led them swiftly into her office, apologizing for the lack of space which ended with Dan pushed into the corner, trapped between a bookcase and hazels chair. She quickly went through the rules and where they could go in order to avoid the students should they get too persistent, for their first day they could each go and find a class that they would sit in the back off and observe as well as get used to the school's system.

The stuttering receptionist was called back in and asked to escort the schools four guests to different points around the school. Carrie was going to music, Hazel science and Louise art. Dan had been assigned to English which of course was the best thing that could happen seeing as he could surprise Phil but he pretended to look disappointed. He couldn't have the three girls narrow down their field of vision on the first Dan. As they passed through the English corridor Dan bid farewell to his company and slipped into the back of the classroom. At first nobody noticed, they were all looking towards the front of the classroom where Phil was stood reading what sounded like 'Dulce et Decorum est' to his class. Dan grimaced as the students, probably around twelve by the looks of it, were subject to the unfortunate fate of a man drowned by gas. It was odd to hear Phil recite such an awful poem about the pain and suffering of WW1 soldiers, vile and unsettling language that someone as sweet and seeming innocent as Phil wouldn't usually be heard using. He finished before turning back to the board and writing a question that he wanted answering.

By this point a few of the students had noticed him and were staring wide eyed. Dan sent them a grin and one of the girls swooned. Soon quite a commotion was happening around the area he was stood and the actor was getting a bit impatient. Phil was still writing on the white board (in handwriting that was actually very neat mind you), seemingly actively ignoring the chatting student to attempt to educate the ones that actually wanted to listen. Eventually he turned around and it must have been about half way through uttering the words "be quite" that he noticed his husband because he stopped mid-sentence.

"Oh hi im Dan by the way!" Dan said confidently, deciding that he would introduce himself, "My team are currently doing some research into a movie and we thought it would be cool to come and visit the school."

Phil was still stood there completely silent and in complete shock but some of the students seemed to be getting over it.

"OMG can I have a selfie!"

"How long are you going to be here."

"Please sign my book."

"I love you so much"

"I WANT TO MARRY YOU!"

Dan stepped back in shock as he was affronted by a series of shouts. Phil suddenly seemed to snap out of his trance and looked down at the students that were surging forward to meet Dan.

"Alright, alright. You can say hello and the end of the lesson. Get back to your seats." He ordered firmly. The teenagers retreated, glaring at their teacher and sending longing looks over to Dan. Dan decided that it would probably be easier if he stayed at the front of the class, much to Phil's chagrin. When the pupils finally calmed down and were actually getting some work done, Phil walked over to Dan looking less than impressed.

"You know a heads up would have been nice." He said quietly,

"Yeah well I wanted to surprise you." Dan replied grinning.

"How long are you staying?" Phil asked, checking over his shoulder to make sure none of the kids were looking at them,

"A week," Dan shrugged. If Phil had been drinking anything he would have spit it out,

"A week!" he responded perhaps a little louder than he had initially meant to, earning a few confused looks of the students. They waited until they had lost interest again before carrying on.

"So you're telling me that you are coming into my workplace for a week to "research" for a film. You do realise I don't exactly want people to know about. . you know." He gestured to them. Dan sent Phil a hurt look to which the older man sighed,

"No it's not like that, it's just, it would make my life hell. I actually quite like this job."

Dan crossed his arms and nodded begrudgingly. He had hoped he would have had more of a positive reaction but then again this was going to be more stressful than he had imagined.

"Ok, well there is another thing. I'm here with Louise, Hazel and Carrie. I kind of told them the person I'm married to his working here."

Phil closed his eyes and groaned,

"Dan! What if they tell someone?" he said sounding quite annoyed.

"They won't, they promised. Besides they all think I'm married to a girl."

Phil let out a snort and raised his eyebrows,

"How?"

Dan shrugged,

"Hetro vision I'm guessing. It must be all the on screen kissing." Dan said laughing and then leant in when he noticed Phil look a bit annoyed by that,

"Don't worry love, they don't compete with you."

Dan realised he had lent in maybe a little too close when one of the students gave an awkward cough and he looked up to see at least four people staring at him. Phil rolled his eyes before heading back to his desk.

"Why don't you go and do some 'research' then." He said coolly, concentrating steadily on the computer screen. Dan could actually see the reflection in the whiteboard and he was playing mine sweeper but he wasn't going to mention it.

By the time break rolled around Dan could safely say he'd been through hell, why the fuck had he suggested this. He had been promptly kicked out of Phil's room once he had felt with pictures and things for the year eights. He had a GCSE class next and they 'actually had to learn something'. He had decided just to pop next door into the classroom of a cheerful teacher called Mrs Streetly. She had been very exited to see him but unfortunately didn't quite have the grasp on her class that Phil did. Chaos ensued. Once the bell finally rang Dan practically three himself into Phil's room and slammed the door shut behind him.

Phil jumped slightly but simply rolled his eyes and went back to placing work sheets on desks. Dan took a quick glance around the classroom to make sure they were alone before wrapping his arms around his husband and hanging on for dear life,

"I was horrible Phil, how do you cope? They're just so demanding and loud. They were screaming Phil! Screaming!"

Phil nearly raised his eyebrow,

"I thought you'd be used to all that stuff, you are sort of famous you know. Besides I have no sympathy, you brought this on yourself."

Dan grumbled to himself slightly but after all, it was true. Phil shimmied out of Dan's grip and continued placing paper on all the desks, much to Dan's annoyance,

"Why are you being so mean." He said pouting.

"Because I have work to do. I can be all affectionate and lovey when we get home but for now maybe you should go and pester someone else."

Dan frowned and Phil must have noticed because his expression softened,

"Lets go to the staff room yeah? If you spend too long here then your colleagues might figure out I'm your wife."

Dan grinned and kissed Phil on the cheek,

"You are totally my wife."

The staff room was still empty when they got there, probably considering they had literally sprinted. Phil walked over to the window and pulled the blinds shut. The next person to burst in was Carrie who was accompanied by an amused looking music teacher,

"It was horrible." She murmured before collapsing into a chair. The teacher chuckled,

"Don't worry, they'll get bored after a few days. They'll calm down."

Carrie huffed,

"Doesn't seem like it."

Louise was the next to arrive. Dan had just got a text from Hazel telling him she was going to camp out in the IT department and wait out the crowd of kids waiting to meet her. Louise grinned and waltzed over to Dan,

"How have you been? I'm having such a nice time. The kids are so sweet, aren't they?"

"Sweet wasn't exactly the word I was thinking of." Was Dan's reply.

Suddenly Louise shoved a piece of paper towards Dan and dragged him over to a corner of the room where nobody could hear. He looked down and realised that it was a staff list. Louise had crossed off the name of every teacher who was male, married (to someone the other staff knew) or over forty. Louise was really taking this seriously. His eyes ran over to Phil name, it had been scribbles over in haste and despite the fact that this meant he wasn't going to get caught any time soon Dan couldn't help but feel a little annoyed. It could have been a neat line through at least.

The actress grinned and studied Dan as he read through the list, attempting to figure out which one of the one. Dan merely shrugged and handed the list back.,

"You're dedicated, I'll give you that."

Louise rolled her eyes and watched him like a hawk as he headed back to the English teacher huddle that had gathered in the corner of the room. If Louise was so set that he was straight, then spending a bit longer with his husband wouldn't hurt. Being quite a small school, there were only four English teachers including the two who also taught drama and media.

Teaching at high school is a lot like being a student back in high school, there are people you like and people you dislike. It often seemed however that these things were dictated by department. Most got along perfectly well, but others were mortal enemies. Science and religious studies, music and physical education but the fiercest was perhaps between English and MFL. The modern foreign language teachers were often the subject of Phil's rare but passionate rants, he usually found it quite funny but the others took it dead seriously, too seriously.

Currently both groups were huddled together in separate clumps across the room from one another. As he forced his way into the group containing Phil and was met with a smiling Mrs Streetly as well as two other teachers he didn't know. One held out his hand which Dan took hesitantly and was almost crushed by it white the other regarded him with a steely gaze and muttered something in a thick Scottish accent which sounded something along the lines of "bloody distraction".

When break finally ended and the teachers reluctantly went back to there respective classes and Dan decided he would change things up. Carrie was replacing his spot in the English department and Louise was headed to I.T so he decided me would visit languages, just to see what made them so bad. Phil sent him a glance that clearly read 'traitor' earning a chuckle from the actor. The teacher he was occupying was an overly cheerful French teacher that looked suspiciously like Moriarty, unfortunately he was insufferably upbeat, so Dan abandoned him after twenty minutes.

It was quite evident that French wasn't a language in this scholl that anyone studied because they actually liked it. Pretty soon Dan was quite ready to 'aller' back to his 'lit' and sleep for the rest of the 'journee'. He had attempted to answer some questions thrown to the class, but the short tempered Irish Madame had al but ripped the life out of him when he got his tenses mixed. The feud came to light only once during the two hours he was there, and it was all due to a simple mistake. One of the students had mixed up a verb and an adverb leading to an outburst about how they should have already learnt this, clearly she was very passionate about such things.

Lunch went pretty much the same as break except Phil was nowhere to be seen. He had sent a text to Dan telling him that he had gone to walk the dog and would be eating at home as this is what he usually did, and he didn't particularly want to break his routine. This had of course left Dan all on his lonesome as he had predictably been the only one of the four actors who was yet to make a proper friend. Louise must have noticed how dejected he looked seeing as she came over to comfort him. She was gently rubbing his back despite the glares she was sending her.

"What's up Dan?" She said gently, her maternal side showing. Dan shook his head,

"Nothing Lou I'm just tired." Louise raised an eyebrow but didn't question him any further.

Dan began to wonder since when had become so moody when Phil wasn't by his side, just yesterday they had spent most of the day apart and he was used to being without his husband for weeks on end but at this moment he really missed him. Maybe it was the stress and the fact that he couldn't stop thinking about him, but it was starting to get annoying. Imagine how bad it would be when he had to go back to America in a few weeks' time. It would be unbearable. Dan shook his head to rid himself of such thoughts and went back to his Phone, all this social interaction was really getting to him.

Despite the realisation of how ridiculous he was being, Dan did still spend the last period with Phil. The music teacher had indeed been right, the students had actually calmed down quite a bit. They were still a bit pestering but at least he wasn't being swamped. Phil set his students on a task and perched on the edge of his desk next to Dan. His shirt was beginning to become a little rumpled and his trousers looked as though they were covered in dog hair, but he still looked gorgeous. Dan wished he'd had a teacher like Phil at school, he would have concentrated a whole lot more. He drank in another look at Phil's figure and then changed his mind, then again, he probably wouldn't have concentrated at all.

When the day was finally over Dan reluctantly left for home with Louise, leaving Phil behind. He had meetings and marking to attend too, besides it would have looked suspicious if he had stayed. Louise hung around outside his house suspiciously for a while before eventually giving up and Dan went to greet Maxie. The little dog licked his face enthusiastically before wriggling out of his grip. He plonked down on the sofa and switched on the television. A stern-faced reporter was recounting how four actors were today visiting a school in northern England eliciting a groan from Dan. Why wouldn't these people just leave them alone.

Luckily the paparazzi had opted to keep their distance given that sneaking into a school and taking photos was usually quite frowned on, Dan hoped they would keep up this mentality throughout the week. Soon the front door swung over, and Maxie jumped up to greet his favourite parent. Dan had tried his best, but Phil had treats and walks on his side. Phil giggles and pulled the corgi into a hug before settling next to Dan and leaning into his side.

"I'm glad you visited really, it distracted my class from the fact that I somehow managed to forget their books, where are they anyway."

Dan froze, somehow he had managed to leave the books in Louise's car. He hoped she didn't look at the names on then, then she would figure out everything.

"About that, I may have tried to get them for you and left them in my friend's car."

Phil groaned,

"Well you better get them back because I need them for tomorrow."

They sat in comfortable silence for a bit before Phil spoke up again.

"Why are you doing this, coming to my school I mean." He asked, although his tone was curious rather than cold like it had been this morning. Dan shrugged and wrapped his arms around the older man,

"I've always wondered what it was like where you work, beside it seemed like the prefect opportunity. If we get approved for adopting, you might have to give up teaching and I won't get another chance."

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that." Phil replied, looking slightly downcast, "I guess I should enjoy it while it lasts."

"Hey," Dan said softly, "You don't have to quit. We could get a nanny or a babysitter or something."

Phil shook his head,

"I think that if I tried helping raise a child while teaching I'd be spending more time with other peoples' children than my own."

Dan rested his hand on his husband's knee,

"I think we've had a stressful day, how about we order some pizza, watch a film and head to bed."

Phil nodded and closed his eyes and pressed into Dan,

"That sounds prefect," he purred, "Love you."

Dan smiled and pressed a kiss to his forehead,

"love you too."


End file.
